Where does it all go? - A recap on recent events

Wow so it have been a little over a month since my last post and so much has happened. I cannot believe that it is already April 14th. Which poses my question: Where does it all go? So what has happened.... Hold on to your seats cause it is going to be a bumpy ride...

Some things have happened that I haven't been completely open and honest about. My grandmother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer that had metastasized throughout the abdomen. She was a strong woman who took things as they come, and accepted the fate of a close end with acceptance and strength. Over the course of three weeks my family and I visited her several times, and we were able to spend a good time with her on her last full day. During her last week, my father was here, and he took very good care of her. He was there for every little thing that she needed, and he did it with great earnest. What an example that I have in my life. She died, on Saturday March 28th, the day before the Shamrock Shuffle. True to her wishes she was cremated and the memorial service will be on April 24th, the eve before Dark Lord Day (for the beer connoisseur out there!)

So last time we met, I was in the beginning of my training for the Shamrock Shuffle - one of the only 8 k's in the US, and let me tell you, it was quite an experience. (For those who want a by-standers perspective, go to www.gumbytig.blogspot.com) For one it was a crappy day... 30 degrees, three inches of snow and add about 2 inches of standing water, it made for a quite unpleasant way to start the race. We arrived via the CTA (hey who could pass on free parking!) and changed in the basement of my office building due to a lack of public restrooms in a large transit building.. (I think that some of the people in Springfield should hear about it). My first mistake was changing into my running shoes before trudging across 6 blocks to the gear check facility, and then over to the parking garage where my friend parked her car, and then back to the starting corrals, where we forced our way into our corral, minutes after they closed them and told everyone who was not in their assigned corrals to move to the open corral... I was soaken wet well before the race started.... They were totally unprepared for the weather conditions. Running in those conditions was an experience.... and did have an impact on my pace... which hind sight being useful, I didn't hurt myself. I set out to run my race, and finished in 1'17", finishing 6 minutes behind my test run effort on a day where the weather conditions were more favorable. Considering everything, it is a race that I would like to do again, hopefully on a better day. The lessons that I learned: Always bring your own toilet paper, spare change of dry clothes, and race photos are always horrible.

My dear sweet husband has now taken the necessary steps to start a dream that he has always had, Home Brewing. By the time you read this, his fourth brew will be bubbling happily as the little yeasties eat all of the available sugar in the wort. Unfortunately, he has been struggling with achieving his projected specific gravity for these beers, which will have an end result of a low alcohol level by volume. So far I have tried his first two brews, an Scotch Ale, and the IPA. His other two beers were an all Wheat Beer, and a Russian Imperial Stout. The latter was his most recent brew, and is burping very well now... with very little of a head, we shall see as times goes on.

My sister was just in town, and it was a nice opportunity to spend time with more members of my family, so we joined my aunts and uncles at my Grandfather's house for dinner on Saturday. My cold/allergy attach continued to haunt me as the time progressed, and has caused me to take today off of work. It was good to spend time with my sister, even though she was more depressed when she left then when she arrived. It is hard to make arrangements to visit someone and to know that there were only two people who didn't see her, and they were my sisters, that was very hard for her to take. I hope that she remains strong, and know that if she had come to see her, in the end she didn't resemble the woman who we all grew up and loved. I pray that the memory of her will last longer then the sorrow on not seeing her moments before she died.

See I told you that it was going to be a bumpy ride. Which brings us full circle to my leading question: Where does it all go?